College Athletes Should Not Get Paid

In our world today, there are many things that are very controversial and debatable. One major thing that is very controversial is in college sports. Should college athletes get paid or not? College athletes should not get paid because only division one football and basketball generate big revenue, the pros are for making the money, and college athletes already receive benefits.
Paying college athletes would cause a huge uproar and many problems. The big problem is division one football and men’s basketball generate big revenue. Every year, NCAA division football is bringing in millions to billions of dollars of revenue. I am convinced the power five conference which consist of the ACC, PAC 12, BIG 12, BIG 10, and the SEC generate the most

money because they are the conferences that have the best teams. Also from watching sports, teams in those conferences every year are aired on TV, playing in the college football playoff, and usually ranked in the top 25. NCCA division one men’s basketball is the same deal. Every year there is the NCAA tournament and the final four brings in huge revenue for the sport. Bringing in that revenue for those two sports really propels them to elite levels, attracting large crowds and fan bases. “ESPN pays $600 million to broadcast the college football playoff on their network” (Nocera,22). “Many coaches in division one football and basketball have contracts in the hundred thousand to the millions” (Nocera,22). The NCAA basketball tournament generates millions of dollars for their programs and school because it is one of the most watched televised sporting event. There is already a big problem if it’s just division one football and men’s basketball generating all the big revenue.
How would you even pay college athletes? Would it be by position, talent, grades, or which sport they play? A big problem is what about the other sports. ESPN is not paying $600 million dollars to televise the men’s rowing final or the women’s tennis final. Business are not paying a million dollars to have their commercial advertised in smaller division one sports that nobody watches. What about division two and three athletes? Division two and three athletic events are hardly televised on TV, or promoted like division one athletics. Division three athletes really just play for the love of the game. Division three schools do not give out any athletic scholarships to their athletes. Another question is what about title IX? No one really watches the women’s sports or talks about them. In a news article in the Wall Street Journal Mark Emmert the president of the NCAA states “Title IX represents growth, educational and participation opportunities for more than 185,000 talented women student-athletes who play sports each year” (Emmert). Even though many critics agree that women sports don’t really matter and no one watches them, the president of the NCAA disagrees and sees it as an opportunity for women.
If college athletes want to get paid they should just go to the professional level. The pros are for making the money. College athletes are very lucky and fortunate to continue their education while playing a sport at a competitive level. Many college athletes argue that they should get paid because fans purchase jerseys and merchandise with their names and numbers on the back of it. If they are that highly regarded and popular in jersey sales on campus, they really should have no problem getting selected in the NBA or NFL draft. “The player with their jersey getting sold on campus is usually regarded as one of the best players on the team” (Rovell). NCCA division one power house basketball programs like Duke, Kentucky, and Louisville are famous for one and done. “A one and done is when a freshman comes to a college for a year, plays for their team, and then declares for the NBA draft after the tournament. Usually one and done are very high draft picks in the draft, and they have no problem getting a nice paycheck” (Rapaport). Something discussed in my sports ethics class is a reason why people can argue that division one football and men’s basketball players should get paid because they are pretty much minor league teams. Look at the NFL there is no minor league like baseball or a farm team like hockey. The NFL’s minor league is college football. In a New York Times article, Bob Williams the Senior Vice President of Communications of the NCAA states “Paying college athletes would force many schools to make tough choices and field fewer athletic teams” (Noceria,22). If the NCAA started to pay college athletes, many schools would have to cut programs that don’t generate revenue for the school or program. Cutting those programs would lead to huge debates and controversies that would cause many problems starting with fewer athletic teams at a college. Why should college athletes get paid if they already receive benefits?
College athletes should not get paid because they already receive benefits. “Most division one schools are sponsored by Nike, Under Armour, or Adidas. Having them sponsor your school, you get the benefit of all the free gear from that brand. All the players are decked out in clothing, shoes, and game day gear in their sponsors apparel” (Cacciola). The schools in the power five conferences travel like crazy. “For basketball and football games they travel all over the country with their own charter plane” (Rovell). Division one student athletes are getting the experience of a life time being able to travel to many different locations, seeing the United States and the world, while they are just in college. None of the student athletes pay for their flight tickets. My friend played football at the University of Minnesota and he usually got a couple of free tickets to every game, so their family was able to come and support him. Student athletes in division one also, have their own facilitates and mess halls just for student athletes. I went to one of my friends practice in the spring and saw that they get to eat like kings and have a buffet of food after practice all in their own facility designed for student athletes. A big problem again if you wanted to pay college athletes is what about the division two and three athletes. Division two and three school do not have decked out facilities just for student athletes and many teams travel by bus. In a news article in the Wall Street Journal Mark Emmert the president of the NCAA states that they are “clearing the way for student athletes to get a $2,000 miscellaneous expense allowance, awarding multiyear scholarships, raising academic standards, simplifying the rule book, and toughening the penalties for egregious rule breakers” (Emmert). The president of the NCAA is giving students free money but also raising the standards to be an athlete in College.
Many people can argue that college athletes should get paid. There are very good points on why college athletes deserve to get paid. One reason is the TV revenue they bring in. Everyone and their mother watches college football and march madness. Another reason is because division one football and basketball is a multi-billion-dollar business. Coaches of division one teams are making millions and assistant coaches are making into the hundred thousand’s. People will also argue that the facilities are top of the line even better than the pros. Another reason college athletes should get paid because they are not really students first, they are athletes first then students. Many students get into top athletic program on athletic talent rather than academics. “Many student athletes are non-stop with their sport putting in 40 plus hours of work while going to school full-time” (Nocera,22). Division one college athletics bring up many controversial topics and reasons that college athletes should get paid. “Is it really fair that they are producing the school and program a whole bunch of money in exchange of manual labor” (Nocera,22)? Many people will debate about this topic for a long time because college athletics in my eyes are just getting bigger. I believe division one football and basketball are almost or bigger than the NFL and NBA. Having college athletics being bigger than the pros bring up question of where all the money is going and why don’t the athletes get a share of the pie.
Division one college athletes have plenty of reasons on why they should get paid.

There are more reasons on why they should not get paid. Much of the revenue generated through college athletics is getting pumped back into the programs and schools. If the NCAA started to pay college athletes they would have to say goodbye to the luxury life of being a college athlete. The money generated is getting used to build these million dollar facilities and stadiums. The money is getting used to pay for travel, uniforms, coaches, tutors, and meals. If college athletes started to get paid they would no longer be student athletes. Paying athletes would make them employees not students. Paying college athletes would ruin the culture of college athletics. Paying college athletes could result in an increase of tuition price at the institution you attend. Also paying college athletes could increase tickets for games. College and division one athletic events are already very expensive and they don’t need to get more expensive to make one group of athletes satisfied. Paying college athletes would cause problems with all the divisions and sports teams in college athletics. There would be problems with the non-revenue generating sports and division two and three schools that do not generate nearly any revenue compared to division one schools. College athletes have to realize how lucky they are to play on the big stage while continuing their education because many former athletes stop playing after high

school.
College athletes should not get paid because only division one football and basketball generate big revenue, the pros are for making money, and college athletes already receive benefits. Since division one football and basketball are the only one that generate big revenue there would cause many controversies with other divisions and non-revenue schools. In addition, with other divisions and non-revenue schools, it would cause problems with non-revenue generating sports. College athletes that feel like they should get paid should take their talents to the next level where they can get paid. College athletes receive benefits and experience that many people will never be able to experience in their life time from being a student athlete, especially at the division one level. Mark Emmert, the president of the NCAA, doesn’t thing college athletes should get paid so why should you.